Legislators weigh in on insurance, death penalty

Saturday

In his opening comments at Saturday's legislative forum, Rep. Joe Seiwert, R-Pretty Prairie, mentioned how well Reno County legislators can get along.

Despite difference of opinion, they will remain friendly - which isn't always the case in other areas, he said.

It didn't take long for the differences to come up. In the opening statements, Rep. Steve Becker, R-Hutchinson, and Sen. Terry Bruce, R-Hutchinson, differed over the death penalty.

Becker admitted his passion against it.

"I'll do everything I can to get the death penalty repealed," he said.

Bruce said his opinion "differs from those who support it," but he can see both sides.

"It's always a serious issue," he said. "It's a very heart wrenching issue. There are good, compelling arguments from both sides."

Legislators also differed over a Medicaid expansion, part of the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, where states could get more than $2 billion if they approved it.

Kevin J. Miller, president and CEO of Hutchinson Regional Health Care System, has spoken out in favor of Medicaid expansion, writing in The Hutchinson News in July that it will "pay dividends to our state's citizens and for our fine health care facilities."

However, Bruce and Seiwert fear that a Medicaid expansion could be a traditional expansion of welfare.

Becker believes it would be good for the healthcare industry.

"I don't think providing health insurance to someone is giving them something they don't need," Becker said. "I will support it. There would be a lot of people who benefit from it."

Before he worked for Cessna, the farmer paid for his own health insurance. It taught him how valuable it is.

"We've gone so many years, you don't realize what you've got until you lose it," he said. "Don't take it for granted. Respect it when you do have it so you don't abuse it."

Legislators did agree on a few issues. Educators who filled the majority of the room at Shears Technology Center on the Hutchinson Community College campus wanted to know how to fund schools if the Kansas Supreme Court rules schools are not adequately funded.

Legislators agreed that it's too early to tell. The state is so diverse that Johnson County representatives would likely want to tax in different areas than western Kansas representatives.